


The Hidden

by bangchanseonyeondan



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, Werewolf!AU, idk man i wrote like two years ago and wanted to post it so here it is ig, idk what happening, or if they even will come at all, or when updates will come, vampire!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:46:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 12,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24687094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangchanseonyeondan/pseuds/bangchanseonyeondan
Summary: Magic and things that go bump in the night are all lies according to Byun Baekhyun.What if he's wrong?What if everything he knows is a lie?Will his life fall apart?Will he fall apart, and if so, who will be there to pick up the pieces?
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Lu Han/Oh Sehun
Kudos: 1





	1. Life

Baekhyun goes to an ordinary school filled with extraordinarily ordinary people.

There were the jocks: Huang Zitao (Tao), Oh Sehun, Lu Han, Kim Jongin (Kai), Kim Jongdae (Chen) and Zhang Yixing (Lay).

There were the nerds: Do Kyungsoo (DO) and Kim Junmyeon (Suho).

And there were the popular kids: Wu Yi Fan (Kris), Nyun Baekhyun and Kim Minseok (Xiumin).

You go to school and you expect people to stay in their groups, right? Jock with jock, nerd with nerd etc. Wrong. That was what made these 11 people extraordinary. Despite having different hobbies and thoughts, they always got along - mostly.   
  


"Hyung, tell Sehun off; he keeps making fun of me!" Baekhyun whines childishly.  
"Sehun don't make fun of him: he's your elder," Xiumin begun. " And Baekhyun, if you keep telling those jokes, you're basically asking someone to make fun of you." Baekhyun gapes at him, apparently offended, before pouting. "My jokes aren't that bad!"  
"Yes they are." Kai pipes up. "You literally said, 'What do you call someone with with a walking stick that's getting late? A hurricane.' It doesn't even make sense!"  
"It does!" Baekhyun objects. "Walking stick equals cane. Late equals hurry. Walking stick plus late equals hurricane. Simple!" The boys all roll their eyes at him before getting off of their bench. "Get up," DO says, knocking on Baekhyun's head. "We have maths."  
"One: ow!" Baekhyun complains, his attacker simply shrugging his shoulders. "Two: do we have to go? I forgot to do my homework and you won't let me copy yours even though you let Kai." he accuses.  
"Kai doesn't call me Owl." DO replies, walking off.  
"And I do?" Baekhyun asks after scrambling off of the bench.  
"Yes!"

\----------

Baekhyun flops on his bed faced down before Xiumin and DO do the same, Xiumin swinging his legs over Baekhyun's. 

"I hate Tuesdays." Xiumin groans.  
"I can't believe we have to have 3 lessons of science in one day!" DO agrees.  
"When the nerd tells you that school sucks, it sucks." DO gets up sharply slaps Baekhyun on the back of the head for his comment that was muffled by his sheets. Baekhyun gets up and leans on his elbows. "That's the second time you've hit me on the head today!"  
"That's more than the second time you've annoyed me today so be glad I only hit you twice." DO retorts.  
"You," Baekhyun says, pointing at DO. "Are a terrible brother."  
"We're adopted you moron." DO says bluntly.  
"So what? You were my brothers before we adopted you idiot." The 3 boys smile as silence passes over them.

"Okay, can you lot go to your own rooms now?" Baekhyun pipes up, breaking the silence.  
"You just had to ruin the moment didn't you?" Xiumin sighs while smiling, getting up. "Come on Kyungsoo; I don't want Baekhyun complaining to me when I get back."  
"Wait, where are you going hyung?" DO asks.  
"Lunch with Chen." Baekhyun perks up at this.  
"You and Chen, eh? I knew it!" he says excitedly.  
"A: Why are you more excited than I am? B: It's nothing like that!"  
"A: Are you sure I am because you're going very red right now? B: Sure it isn't(!)" Baekhyun mocks lightly as Xiumin's face goes from pink to cherry red.  
"Yah! Shut up!" Baekhyun laughs at Xiumin hurrying out of the room with DO in tow.

\----------

As soon as they are in Xiumin's room and out of Baekhyun's earshot, DO speaks. 

"Hyung what are you thinking? You can't go with him; you know what he is."  
"I know, I know. That's why I'm going. When Chen asked, I only said yes because I knew it could help me figure out his weaknesses." DO's eyes begin to water.  
"Hyung what if he hurts you? After losing the pack last year - I can't lose you as well."  
"And you won't." Xiumin calmly replies, pulling DO into a light hug. "That's why I'm doing this: to keep us and Baekhyun safe." He untangles himself from the hug before checking his watch. "I should go before I get late." he says, opening the door.  
"Good luck."


	2. Coffee?

Xiumin walks down the street slowly, thinking. _Why did he even ask me out? Does he like me? Maybe he just wants to talk. Yeah. That's all; he just wants to talk. Maybe-_ He is shocked out of his thoughts when he bumps into a firm chest. He looks up to see Chen. _Just the person I was thinking of._

"Oh hey Xiumin." Chen smiles. "I was just coming to see you."  
"I know: you were the one who asked me, remember?" Chen smiles at this.  
"'Course I do." he says while leading Xiumin down the street. "So... I didn't really know what sorts of things you like so I hope this is okay." He awkwardly scratches his neck before turning and letting Xiumin see the building that was behind them.  
"I love it." Xiumin smiles.  
"I got it right then? You do actually like coffee?"  
"Yeah. This is my favourite shop as well."  
"Honestly? This must be my lucky day then." Xiumin lightly pushes his shoulder.  
"Don't brag till the day's over."

\----------

Chen and Xiumin sit at a window booth, Chen holding an Americano and Xiumin a Cappuccino. No noise can be heard for several minutes other than the occasional slurp.

"So..." Chen tries to break the silence. "What kinds of music do you like?"  
"I like ballad but I also like rap. What about you?"  
"I prefer R&B."

Silence.

"What's your favourite colour?" Xiumin raises a brow. "I know: over used question. But still."  
"Blue."  
"Really? I like pink; now we have something in common."  
"How?"  
"Pink and blue go well together, like us." he grinned.  
"We had stuff in common before as well though."  
"Like what?"  
"We go to the same school, have the same friends and we both like coffee." Xiumin smiles.  
"Yeah okay. That's true."

\----------

By the end of the date, the two had got to know each other well.

Chen learnt that Xiumin knew Taekwondo, fencing and Kendo, he liked baozis, was strong, very clean and could rap.

Xiumin learnt that Chen was forgetful, a dinosaur-camel (according to all of their friends), very friendly, could play the piano and could sing.

"I had fun today." Xiumin says, smiling genuinely. _I can't believe I actually had fun today - with him!_  
"So did I." _He had fun today - with me! Does this mean he likes me?_ "Can we do this again sometime?" Chen asks, building up his courage. _Should I?_ Xiumin hesitates before answering.  
"Sure. And call me Minseok."  
"Then call me Jongdae." He quickly pulls a pen out of his pocket before taking Minseok's hand and writing something on it. "My number." he explains. "So you can call me - that is if you want to." Minseok takes the pen off of him before writing on his hand.  
"So you can call me." he smiles. "I can feel Baekhyun watching us from the other end of the street."  
"That wasn't just me then? Thank God. I felt so paranoid."  
"He says that he 'ships' us, whatever that means." Jongdae's eyes widen.  
"You don't know what shipping is?"  
"Isn't that what Hanjin and ZIM do?" Minseok question, tilting his head.  
"No, well yes, but not in this context." The corners of Jongdae's mouth twitch upwards.  
"Then I have absolutely no idea."  
"When you ship two people you basically think that they look good together romantically but it can also be when you think that they would make good siblings in which case they would be called a brOTP instead of an OTP." Minseok looks confused.  
"What does OTP mean?"  
"One True Pairing."  
"Ahhh." Minseok nods, understanding him. He stares at the ground and twiddles his fingers, both boys not really knowing what to do now.

Silence passes over them.

"Um... I should go home before Baekhyun decides on any more questions to pester me with." Minseok says, breaking the silence. They laugh, thinking of the things that Baekhyun would think up of. "I'll see you in school then?"  
"Always." Minseok smiles.

...

"Can I hug you?" Minseok blushes at this before replying.  
"I'm 19 and you're 18 and still asking?"  
"I only just turned 18 but is that a yes or a no...?" Minseok rolls his eyes.  
"That's a yes." he says, pulling the younger into a hug, his eyes widening. After tensing for a second out of surprise, Jongdae leans into the hug. They pull away as Minseok flushes, realising how forward he was.  
"S-sorry." he stutters. "I'm not usually like that; I -"  
"I know. Whenever we're in school you barely talk unless someone asks you a question."  
"I'll go now."  
"Bye."  
"Bye."

_That was so awkward!_ Xiumin thinks to himself.

_Yes! He actually likes me! Probably. I hope he does._ Chen wonders.

\----------

The door opens before Xiumin is even able to place his hand on the door handle. He is quickly pulled in by his younger brothers.

"How was it?"  
"Where was it?"  
"Was he good to you?"  
"He didn't hurt you, right?"  
"Are you going on a second date?"  
"Was that even a date or not?"

Xiumin raises his hands in surrender while telling them to shut up so they would actually be able to hear him. "Okay, okay: it was good, it was at Jeon's Coffee, he was very good and he didn't hurt me, yes there will be a second date and yes it was an actual date and not just a meet up."  
"Last question." Xiumin groans at Baekhyun's comment. "What did he write on your hand? Did he give you his number?" Xiumin flushes before ignoring the youngers' protests and going to his room.

\----------

He adds Jongdae to his contacts before sending him a screenshot showing 'Chen'.

Jongdae's sees it and smiles. _I am smiling so much today my face hurts._ He sends him a screenshot of his own showing 'Minseokkie hyung'.

Minseok gets the image and beams shyly before frowning. _No, no. Not him. Not one of his kind. No way._


	3. Brothers

It was Thursday and the boys were in school. Lay and Luhan were teasing and pestering Chen about his date just as Baekhyun and DO did to Xiumin two days earlier.

"What was it like?"  
"Was he as quiet as usual?"  
"Did you kiss?" Chen's eyes widened at Lay's question. "Is he good?" Chen's eyes were about the size of Saturn's rings by then.  
"Okay! Stop! Please!" The older boys laughed lightly along with Sehun who was happily watching the elder's discomfort.  
"Yah! Why are you laughing?"  
"No reason hyung." he replied, stifling his laughter.

"I have an announcement." he claimed grandly while standing up.  
"Sehun sit down; people are staring." Suho said, looking around.

"Sehun-ah, just listen." Luhan sighed. Sehun sheepishly sat down after noticing that the two were right: people were staring at him like he was a crazy person.  
"Sorry. I just got excited. Guess why?" The group simultaneously groaned. Choruses of "Just tell us!" erupted from the group making Sehun pout. "You're all so boring but I do have good news: Chanyeol hyung's coming to town." Sounds of joy and surprise came from 7 boys' mouths. "He's coming to our school as well." The sound of the cheers grew, almost deafening anyone within a ten metre radius.

"Quiet boys. You're disturbing other students." Mr Choi scolded. Once again the group chorused, this time with apologies.

As the teacher turned his back and left, DO asked the question 3 boys had been wondering the answer to. "Who's Chanyeol?" The boys all turned to look at them before realising that they had never met him.  
"He's my brother." Sehun answered nonchalantly.  
"Wait since when have you had a brother?" Baekhyun inquired.  
"I'm gonna say since always considering he's my older brother." Baekhyun swats the younger on the arm.  
"That's not what I meant babo. I meant how come you never told us?"  
"You never asked." Baekhyun rolled his eyes.  
"What's he like?"  
"Personality or looks?"  
"Both."  
"Looks wise: he's tall, he has big ears, kinda looks like Yoda to be honest and girls would call him handsome. I mean I wouldn't obviously because he's my brother but yeah he would be considered 'handsome'. Personality wise: he can be cold if you've just met and he doesn't like you but he's basically our happy virus."  
"Happy virus?" Baekhyun questions.  
"So happy it's almost sickening - He's always smiling - like constantly - even when he's in pain. It's like he's made it his life's mission to be constantly happy. It's kinda weird to be honest."  
"When's he coming?" the boys asked, intrigued to see what the brother was really like.  
"Saturday night."  
"Awesome. Let's see how well this goes." Kai said, a smile on his face as he remembered the older man who was filled to the brim with bad jokes, old puns and embarrassing memories. He couldn't wait to see him.


	4. Chanyeol

It was Saturday night and things are going crazy at Sehun, Luhan and Kai's house.

"Don't put it there! It goes next to the sofa!"

"Stop shouting; I know what I'm doing."

"Where did you put all the food?"

"It's in the fridge!"

"No it isn't!"

"I put on the kitchen counter!"

"Where's the bathroom?"

"Why d'you need to know?"

"Take a guess genius!"

"Don't even start with me Baekhyun hyung!"

"Stop arguing! He'll be here soon and we can't even manage to tell someone where the bathroom is so everyone get your shit together and actually do something useful." Suho ranted, silencing the rest of the group.

The next hour was spent cleaning and putting the house in order and making the place presentable for their soon to be here friend.

Chen and Xiumin were cleaning the living room. D.O and Kai were sorting out the food (mostly D.O) while Lay and Suho were cleaning the kitchen. Luhan, Baekhyun and Sehun were cleaning the room that he would be staying in. Kris and Tao were keeping watch at the windows. "He's at the end if the street!", the brothers chorused.

Everyone got into place, hiding behind the sofas and chairs among other things after turning off the light, making sure the door was unlocked.

The door creaked open. "Hello?" A voice sounded in the distance. "Those morons must have given me the wrong address." he mumbled as he flicked the lights switch on. "Surprise!" nine very loud voices shouted. "We are not morons!" three others shouted. "That is subjective." the tall man pointed out, a little in awe at the amount of effort the boys put in for him.

The room was spotless - there were easter eggs, plastic bats and tiny Christmas trees huddled in random places around the room. _I have the weirdest family on the planet._ "Chanyeol meet Baekhyun, D.O and Xiumin. These are the friends we told you about." Luhan introduced.  
"I still can't believe you guys actually managed to get friends." he said incredulously.  
"Stop being an ass hyung."  
"Sehun-ah! My child!", he exclaimed, rushing other to smother the poor boy in a hug.  
"I'm your little brother not your child.", he whined like a child.  
"I don't care. Aigoo! You've gotten so thin - eat more!" Sehun looked at his older brother like he'd gone insane.  
"What the heck us wrong with you?"  
"Is it wrong for me to miss my brother?" Sehun shook his head at him.  
"You're being weirder than normal and it's getting creepy." Chanyeol rolled his eyes at him.  
"You are so nice to me."  
"You wish."

"Is all of this for me?" Suho smiled kindly.  
"Yes: welcome home Chanyeol!" Chanyeol grinned at his affection before questioning: "What's with the decorations though?" D.O rolled his eyes discreetly before answering.  
"Your brothers don't know what welcoming decorations are apparently so we had to make do with the stuff from Easter, Christmas and Halloween."  
"You're Xiumin right?" The shorter shook his head.  
"I'm D.O, that's Xiumin." he said, pointing to a boy his hight with jet black hair and eyes reminiscent of a cat.  
"Hi." he spoke, waving shyly.

"What are we waiting for? There's food and music - let's get this thing started!" Kris burst out, breaking the slight silence.  
"Hell yeah!" Baekhyun agreed, walking past Suho and Chanyeol, before turning on Bang Bang Bang by Big Bang.  
"Hot diggity damn, this is my jam!" Chen yelled, Luhan hitting him arm, effectively making him shut up.

The party was quickly in full swing, people were dancing, singing and laughing. The food was delicious and finished quickly. "DO can we order more food?" Baekhyun shouts to DO who was drinking something bright blue.  
"Sure, just make sure no one's allergic to anything!" He yells back, the music slightly drowning him out.  
"Got it." Baekhyun mumbles to himself, trying to push past Sehun and Luhan, who were dancing, to get to the phone. 

"Alright," he mumbles, fumbling at the keys. "Is pizza good?" he calls over the music, shouts of agreement echoing after him. "Hello, Pizza Hut Myeongdong? Yeah, can we get the usual stuff: three 12" Neapolitan pizzas and one Hawaiian? Alright, thanks Jackson." He finishes the call and screams: "25 minutes for the pizza!"

He turns and nearly bumps into someone. "Oh," he looks up, startled. "Sorry."  
"No, no, it was my fault. I just have to ask though - why would you buy Hawaiian pizza?" the taller asks, wrinkling his nose.  
"Your brother's a weirdo that likes pineapple on pizza." Baekhyun explains with a lazy wave of his hand.  
"Sehun hates pineapple on pizza." he argues.  
"He might have before but he loves it now - Luhan hyung probably made him. After living with people, you can pick up their habits." Baekhyun pointed out, opening the fridge for a bottle of water.  
"We haven't properly met yet have we?" he realises.  
"No, we haven't." he agrees. "I'm Chanyeol."


	5. Meeting

"I'm Chanyeol."

"I'm Baekhyun, he smiles kindly. "A friend of the boys you met earlier."  
"Ah." he answers simply.

Baekhyun sips his water and leans against the kitchen counter. "So..." he trails off. "Why d'you come to Seoul? I mean now?"  
"What?"  
"Why d'you come to Seoul?" he repeats. "You could've came with the others two years ago but you didn't. How come?" he asks curiously.  
"Before you think anything weird, I just didn't want to come then."  
"And you do now?"  
"I missed my brothers - that's not illegal is it?"  
"No, no. Not at all - unless you need them for something like, I don't know, hiding a body." Baekhyun grins, teasing.  
"Are you always this weird?" Chanyeol asks.  
"Ask your brothers, I was normal before they showed up."

\---------- 

Chanyeol is pulled onto the sofa by Kai, Sehun and Luhan.

"Did you like the party then?" they bugged him.  
"No." he replies with a deadpan exprression.  
"What? Why?"  
"I'm messing with you." he grins, turning his phone off and facing them. "It was great - I loved it." he answers truthfully. "The decorations were weird - gotta say that, but it was fun."  
"Do you like them?"  
"The new boys? The oldest and youngest are so quiet and the middle kid is weirder than you lot." he explains, earning him light punches from the youngest two.  
"Stop it you two." Luhan scolds. "Did you like them though?" he turns his focus back to Chanyeol.  
"They're okay. I would say DO is like a bird, Xiumin's a panda and Baekhyun's a beagle." Sehun snorts.  
"If Baekhyun hyung's a beagle, what are you and Chen hyung?"  
"We're us. What else would be?"  
"Wait wait wait." Kai interrupts, flapping his hands. "Who do you like best?"  
"I don't know." Chanyeol bursts. "I just met them."  
"I knew you'd be like this - you hate choosing between people." Kai cackles.  
"Why are being like this to me? I just got here."  
"I'm bored." he whines childishly, laying on Sehun's legs. "This lot don't do anything and it's past midnight so I can't call Baekhyun."  
"Let's go hunting then." the tall man suggests, standing up.  
"Yes!" Kai jumps up and moves to tug on his trainers.  
"Sehun, you coming?"  
"Heck yeah - when was the last we hunted with you?"

\---------- 

Chanyeol moved his mouth from the teenageer's neck, before biting his own wrist. "Drink." The boy does as he's told and drinks, the marks on his neck and wrist healing and fading. "Look at me." He forces the boy to look into his eyes. "You will forget we were ever here. You just left the arcade and walked around. Do you understand?"  
"I understand."

Sehun wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb before sucking the crimson off. "When was the last time we went out for food?" he chuckles.  
"This was fun." Chanyeol smirks, running his hand through his hair, walking home with them.  
"Agreed." the other boys chorus.


	6. First Day

"Chanyeol!" Luhan's voice shouts, his voice ringing throughout the house as he pounds on the boy's door. "Get up - we have school!" Chanyeol lets out a groan.  
"I don't wanna go!" he complains, his voice almost a whine.  
"Don't care." Luhan retorts. "Get up and get ready before I get the boys to make you."

The lanky boy lets out a sigh of frustration. _Why do I have to go to school? I swear I already know all that crap._ He ruffles his hair before walking to the bathroom to brush his teeth. _Okay_ , he thinks. _What classes will I have? Korean, maths, form, history, English._ He pauses for a second. _Do schools still do etiquette lessons? Is that still a thing? Probably not._ He shrugs and spits out the toothpaste, washing his brush before taking a shower and getting dressed.

\---------- 

The eight boys met up with the three brothers as usual, just with an extra person. "Hey nerds." Baekhyun greets cheerfully, his brothers doing the same.  
"Hey." the boys reply, lazily walking across the road.  
"Hi," Chanyeol speaks up. "Is there anyone older than me because like... yeah." he finishes awkwardly, scratching his neck and smiling.  
"Xiumin hyung." Chen tells him. "He's the oldest."  
"Okay. School then." Chanyeol groans, the others laughing at him.  
"Yes school." Suho smiles, still stern. "You know -"  
"I know hyung, school's good for me. I get it," he raises his hands in surrender. "Its so boring though."  
"I didn't say it wasn't."

\---------- 

Chanyeol was right. _Thank god for that - I flipping hate etiquette lessons._ "What classes do we have together?" he asks the boys, handing them the timetable. "Because of your age, you'll only have class with Chen and Baek." Kris explains, giving them the timetable. They take it and quickly scan the sheet. "You have English with me and science with Chen. Everything else we have together." Baekhyun answers, giving the sheet back, noticing judging looks from Chen.  
"What?  
"Why do you know my timetable? I don't even know my timetable." Baekhyun merely shrugs. "He's probably right though." Chen tells Chanyeol. "By the way, you have maths first with us so good luck." he snorts, rushing to class as the group splits to do the same.

\---------- 

The pair walked in silence for a few moments before Baekhyun spoke.

"This is odd - Sehun said you normally never stop talking but now you're just being all quiet." he complains childishly.  
"I just don't really wanna talk." he says.  
"Aah. I get it now. He warned me about this - he said when you don't really know people you'll act all cold and mean."  
"I'm not that bad." he protests.  
"Yeah I know - we talked for like five minutes on Saturday, remember?"  
"Yeah." The taller finally smiles, resulting in a grin from the smaller.  
"If you ever wanna know more about us, I'm here."  
"Okay. Why are your friends so quiet?"  
"Anything but that because I don't know. I've known them since we were little but they've always been quiet. It's just what they're like."  
"Alright. How much do you know about us?"  
"I know all of you lot pretty well except for Suho hyung - he's nice and all but we don't talk much."  
"If you ever wanna know anything more about us then, we'll be here." Chanyeol promises, the smile that was gracing his lips fading as they see their classroom's door.  
"We're gonna die." Chen chirps, grinning like a fool.  
"Good luck new boy." Chanyeol groans internally at the realisation that he'll have to introduce himself in every class.

The class fills up and settles down as the teacher walks in. "Good morning students - I believe we have a new student." He turns to face Chanyeol. "I'm Mr Choi Siwon and you can call me Mr Choi. Come up and introduce yourself." he say, not unkindly. "Annyeonghaseyo." He bows before straightening up. "I'm Park Chanyeol and if I'm mean, which I'm not usually, I don't like you. I'm very blunt and I'm pretty sure some of you know my little brother, Oh Sehun and yes, being tall does run in family." he finishes with a smile.  
"Still not the weirdest introduction I've seen." Siwon mutters, smiling and shaking his head. "Take a seat Chanyeol. And yes, I will be calling you by your forename. If I say 'Park', at least three other students here could think it's them." he rants. "By the way, your homeroom teacher is Mr Kim Heechul. So, how good are you at maths?"  
"Pretty good," the student shrugs. "Don't really like it but yeah."  
"Okay, everyone: turn to page 394 in your textbooks."

\----------

The classes passed without a glitch and in what seemed like the blink of an eye the seven hours of school were already over.

"How was your first day of school?" Lay asked, smiling.  
"I didn't like maths or science much but but PE, history, English and Korean are okay."  
"He only likes history because he pisses the teacher off." Baekhyun butts in before returning to his conversation with Luhan and Sehun.  
"He's right." Chanyeol agrees.  
"What about your teachers?" Lay mischievously grins.  
"How you could you guys not tell me it's them?" he exclaims, trying to keep his voice down. "They're like our annoying uncles we see way too often and now I have to call them 'sir'. Siwon hyung's my maths teacher, Heechul hyung's my homeroom teacher, Henry hyung's my English teacher, Leeteuk hyung's gonna teach me music after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, history's Yesung hyung who kinda wants to strangle me right now and Korean's Shindong hyung." he lists, counting six teachers on his fingers. "Heechul hyung just tells us to call him 'sir' when other teachers are around and lets us call him hyung normally."  
"Are you tired?"  
"Of people? Yes. Generally? No I'm not really that tired, just hungry."

"See you guys." Baekhyun calls as he, DO and Xiumin turn away from the group to walk to their homes. Chanyeol and Lay had talked and not realised how far they had gone.  
"Wait!" Chanyeol shouts. The three boys turns around at the yell.  
"What happened? Who died?" DO asked dryly.  
"No one. I just wanted to give you guys my number. I wasn't able to give it you in class." he explains, taking Baekhyun's phone from his outstretched hand, typing in the number.  
"We were in class you genius, we take out phones out and they take them off of us."  
"I know, I meant at lunch." He hands the phone back as Baekhyun tells him to go back as it looks like Sehun and Kai want to leave him behind to find his own way home. "I know my way home."  
"They'll eat all the food."  
"Bye." he grins cheekily.  
"Bye."


	7. Dream

It was late Tuesday night. The weather was cold and unsparing and Byun Baekhyun was getting ready for bed. _I honestly hate Tuesdays_ , he thought, slipping under his sheets and covering his shoulders. _Who in their right mind would force students to do three lessons of science in one day?_ He thought it was like torture, being made to endure the same teacher droning on and on about the same topic for three hours. _Goodnight DO. Goodnight Xiumin hyung._ He shut his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

\---------- 

A few hours later he woke up suddenly, pulling him away from a rather interesting dream. "Damn it. I wanted to see how that ended." he mutters, pouting to himself. He goes to the bathroom (for obvious reasons) and washes his hands when he sees something out of the window. "What the...?" It looked like animals. No it was people. Whatever it was, it didn't look all too nice so Baekhyun, being the genius he is, decides to go out to see what it is and shoo it away. _It can't be all that bad._ Baekhyun reasures himself. He walks outside and goes into the mouth of the alley. _Geez, this feels so cliche._ "Hello?" he asks, taking a step forward to see better. "Who are you? Are you even a person? If you're not I'll feel really stupid in a bit." he mutters the end to himself. The shadowed figures walk out of the darkness, eerily inching closer and closer towards him. "I'm having a really bad feeling right now and it's telling me to run." he whispers, moving away from the figures. They get closer to him and he begins to distinguish their features. Three men. The smaller was delicate but clearly strong, regal and powerful as a king. The tallest was lean and youthful, calculating and decisive as a general. The third was agile looking and animalistic, calm and controlled as a soldier. "What... what are you guys doing here?" he asks, puzzled as to why his friends were lurking in alleys in the middle of the night. "Sehun come on. Tell me what's going on." No reply. "Luhan hyung?" Nothing. "T-tao?" Pure cold dread runs through his veins like blood would, they are his friends. His close friends for two years. What are they? Luhan comes closer and Baekhyun can see his eyes, a chemically pink and Sehun and Tao come closer too, toxic green and smoaky peach. "What the f-?" He cuts himself off as a sadistic smile spreads across Luhan's face before he bares his teeth and reveals two sharp incisors. He blanches at the sight, a sickening feeling rising up his throat, making him unable to speak. _This is a nightmare. This isn't possible. I'm going to run to my room and go back to bed and when I wake up, this'll all be a nightmare. Just a distant nightmare._ He thinks, as he backs away from the group. Tao speeds up, just a little, and Baekhyun can feel his heart beating out of his chest. He lets out a strangled sob out of sheer undiluted terror, turns and runs home, yanking the door open and shutting the door. _I'm safe. I'm safe. I'm safe._ He slowly walks up the stairs and to his room. _It was just a nightmare. I'm okay. They're okay. Everything's okay._ "Everything's okay." he mumbles, before falling onto his bed, exhaustion taking over his body.


	8. Nightmare

Baekhyun shoulders his bag, heavily laden with books. "Hey Baekhyun." Xiumin calls, speeding up to reach the boy. "Did your parents come home late last night?" he whispers so they can't be overheard. "We heard the door shut at about two o'clock at night." Baekhyun nods absentmindedly.  
"Yeah, they must've I guess."  
"Hey are you okay?" the elder asks, his worry clear on his face.  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Baekhyun plasters a smile onto his face, not really fooling anyone. "Honest." The others decide to let it go. "We have English first." he motions to his classmates, before turning to where he needs to go. The two boys wave goodbye to their friends before hurrying to catch up.

"Hey, slow down." Chen whines to Baekhyun and Chanyeol.  
"Hurry up." Chanyeol retorts, a smirk on his face. "I got here didn't I?"  
"You have long legs." Chen huffs, finally having reached them.  
"No, you're just short." he grins, ruffling the other's hair only to have his hand bat away.  
"Stop it!"

Baekhyun grins at the bickering pair till the night before decides to loom over him like a shadow, his smile quickly disappearing. Chanyeol notices and lightly nudges him with his elbow.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he lowers his voice, the sound calming and soft to Baekhyun's ears.  
"I don't know." he stammers. "I don't know - I had a really bad dream last night and I just - I can't function properly now."  
"Can you tell us what it was about? Your dream." Chen asks, his voice like honey, sweet and smooth.  
"It was about you guys." Baekhyun looks up from the spot on the ground. "I went outside after seeing something through my bathroom window. I went to shoo it away - I thought it was an animal." he explains, tears of fear welling up in his eyes. "It wasn't an animal. It was definitely not an animal." he violently shakes his head. "It was Sehun." He turns towards Chanyeol at the mention of his brother. "It was Sehun and Tao and Luhan hyung." He looks at both of them, his eyes wide with pain. "It was them but it wasn't. D'you get me? Whatever those things were only had their faces but their eyes were all weird." he tells them, furrowing his eyebrows. "They were pink and peach and green, like poison." he whispers, his tears now falling freely down his face. "And their teeth." The other boys' heads whipped to him. "They weren't a humans. They weren't human. Their teeth were all sharp and pointed. Like a vampire's." he jokes bitterly, his words choked and pained. "The thing is, it felt so real. Like I was really there. Like it all really happened." he looks down, his tears hitting the floor. "That's not possible though." he rationalises, wiping his tears away, furious at himself for crying in front of his friends. "I'm sorry." he apologises. "I ranted and now we're late for class and-" He gets cut off by the two friends pulling him into a group hug.  
"Stop apologising - we're your friends and if we're not here to listen to you, who will be, huh?" Chen smiles at him, wiping away any trace of crying from his face.  
"We said it yesterday. You even need to talk, we'll be here for you." Chanyeol reminds him. "Mr Lau can deal with us being a little late."  
"We've missed the first 15 minutes."  
"So?"  
"It's only your third day here." Chen pitches in, siding with Baekhyun.  
"You're supposed to be on my side." Chanyeol points, his tone accusatory.  
"No way: I like Baek more than you." Baekhyun grins at this.  
"Baekhyun likes me more than you though, right Baek?" Chanyeol faces him.  
"Like Hell if I'm answering." he yelps quietly, dragging the two to their English class.


	9. Democracy

"What the actual hell were you thinking, you stupid fool?!" Chanyeol yells, gripping Sehun by his collar and pinning him to the wall. "Why would go anywhere near him while hunting?"  
"We didn't know."  
"How could you not know? You've lived here for two years!" He roughly shakes his younger brother. "You know their kind hate us. How could you do that? If it was anyone else, we'd all be dead by now!"  
"You keep acting like I knew he was there!" Sehun screams back, shoving him off. "It might have been two years but we've never been near where he lives. We were shocked and hungry hyung." he lowers his voice. "D'you know how hard it was to not drain the breather from the alley? Or him? We couldn't have compelled him to forget no matter how we tried. We can't now anyways; his 'dream' has effected him too much." he swallows, forcing back tears and gritting his teeth as he looks his brother in the eyes. "Do you really think I would intentionally put the nest in danger? Get myself," he points to himself. "my brother," he jabs his finger at the elder's chest. "my mate, my family killed?"  
"Of course not-"  
"Then why d'you say it?"  
"I didn't mean to. It just - I just -"  
"You what?" No response. "That's what I thought." he smiled bitterly, wiping a single stray tear away.

Silence falls over them like a heavy blanket, woven from depression and pain.

"We have to tell him." Sehun breaks the silence. Oppositions flew across the room like bullets, all directed at the maknae. He raises his hand and the room goes silent, perhaps from shock at the lack of arguments from the young man. "Think about it," he begins. "He already knows what we are, he's seen us. He's seen our eyes. It's only a matter of time and who would you want him to go to to find out about us: us or hunters?" he spits out, disgust in his eyes, his fists clenched and shaking by his sides at the mention of them. "We've always been a democracy right? So let's vote on it." he says, his tone leaving no opportunity to argue. "All in favour, say aye and raise your hand." Eight voices can be heard and only eight hands can be seen lifted into the air.  


"Suho hyung?"  
"He's a boy. Just a child. He knows nothing about us and I think it'd be dangerous but it's kinda obvious I've been overruled, isn't it?" he smiles. "Whatever happens is on your head Sehun." he warns. "This is your idea."  
"I understand leader." he nods before bowing his head.  
"Sehun." Suho groans.  
"Sorry: I understand hyung." he corrects himself, smiling lightly. "I'll tell him tomorrow. But right now, I'm hungry." he whines. "Who wants to go hunting?"  
"No!" the other eight yell.  
"Kidding." he grins. _He might be tall, strong and powerful, but he's such a child._ Luhan thinks, shaking his head and smiling. _Silly mate._


	10. Lies

"I can't believe we have to have double Korean." Baekhyun complains to Sehun. "I mean, Mr Shin is awesome and all but if we could just have one free period. I mean, it's not too much to ask for is it?" he turns to the boy.  
"Nope - I think we should've had a free period for a while now. How fair is it that we come to school, have to deal with people acting like idiots and then teachers who patronise us as well for seven hours a day, six days a week?"  
"Preach brother!" Baekhyun yells, gaining strange looks from the people on the streets around him and laughter from Sehun. He slaps him on the back of the head. "Shut up."  
"Sorry." he grins, trying to cover it up, before remembering what he has to do.

"Hyung?"  
"Yeah?" Baekhyun replies, confused at Sehun's sudden seriousness.  
"I need to tell you something, something serious."  
"You better not be asking me out." he jokes.  
"Ew, gross, no. Never." he grimaces, reeling back slightly. "It's not just about me. It's about all of us. Well, except for you, DO hyung and Xiumin hyung."  
"What is it?" he asks.  
"Well, I - um - we - uh..." he trails off. _How the hell am I supposed to say this?_ "Well, we're not exactly," he pauses. "um, well, normal."  
"Yeah, that's old news: you're a load of weirdos."  
"No I mean we're not normal. Like human." He picks his words carefully, afraid of the other's reaction.  
"What?"  
"We're vampires." Sehun blurts out. _He knows. He knows. Finally he knows._ He lets a breath out in relief.

"Shut up."  
"What?" The words hit him like a slap across the face.  
"Shut up." Baekhyun repeats through gritted teeth. "Shut up. I had a nightmare, one that frankly haunts me, and you wanna make fun and start shit? Real mature Sehun. Real flipping mature Sehun!" he yells at him, ignoring the stares of passers-by.  
"I'm not - I would never - hyung!" he yells in surprise, chasing the young boy and gripping his arm, turning him to face him.  
"Don't you dare touch me!" He yanks his arm out of his grasp. "You know I trusted your brother. I trusted him and Chen to just listen and keep it to themselves. Turns out I can't trust them to keep a secret." he shakes his head. "Can't trust you either I guess."  
"Hyung-" he breathes out, pained.  
"Stop." he orders. "Just stop. I'm going to go home now and you're gonna tell your good-for-nothing brother that he was wrong: he really isn't someone I can talk to and depend on." With that he turns on his heel and heads home, not looking back once, burning rage spreading through him, like a fire, the sparks licking at his heart and mind. _How could they? How could he? I trusted you._ He scoffs at himself. _More fool me._


	11. Truth

It is early Friday morning and students are walking into homeroom except two people.

"What the heck Baekhyun?" Chanyeol yelps as he feels himself being dragged away from class.  "Heechul hyung's gonna kill me if I keep missing homeroom." he whines before letting out a small "Oof!" as he gets pushed and pinned to the wall. "What's going on?" he says cautiously, not wanting to push the boy's buttons.  
"You know flipping well 'what's up' so don't even get me started!" he forces out as he grips his collars and drags him to the unused football pitch before pinning him to the fence. "Why the fuck would you tell Sehun? I told you my nightmare and I thought you'd keep it to yourself; why the fuck would you tell him?" he yells.  
"Oh." he breaths out. "I understand now: he told you."  
"You knew?" he backs away, his voice cracking as he backs away. "You knew. Of course, you knew." he cries. "That stupid dream messed me up, it messed me up real bad. I couldn't function properly and you lot decide to make a joke out of it?" he screams, demanding an answer. "Just tell me the truth. Please Chanyeol. I just want to know the truth."  
"He wasn't lying Baek, he wasn't." he answers sincerely, taking a step towards the shaking boy.  
"That isn't possible - that can't- I- it- you-"  
"Baek come on-"  
"No!"  
"Baekhyun, we have to go to class-"  
"Stay away from me you liar!" At this Chanyeol snaps.

"You foolish humans! I swear, if you can't handle the truth, why ask?" he hisses, losing control. His voice deepens to a growl, his eyes turning from his usual brown to a deep crimson, his canines and premolars extending and sharpening. "Tell me breather, what's stopping me from making you forget all about us? You?" he coos, chuckling. "You don't stand a chance." He leans down and firmly holds the back of his head, staring into his eyes.  
"Hell yes I do." Baekhyun says, determined and smiling grimly. He twists his head out of the other's grip and swiftly kicks his crotch, emitting a strangled groan from him, his eyes and teeth returning to normal.  
"Oh fuck." he says as Baekhyun grins.  
"Doesn't matter what species you are, you're still a guy." he says over his shoulder, running away.

He whips his head side to side. _Where do I go? We showed him the entire school. He'll know. Best to keep moving then._ He runs, the adrenaline rush fading leaving only fear and worry, the feeling of bile rising up his throat. _Oh God. Oh my God._ He crosses himself. _I'm not really religious and all but please: help me, save me from whatever he his._ "Please - oh God." he chokes out, his vision blurring as he runs to the boys' toilets. He leans over a toilet and heaves, emptying his stomach, not registering heavy footsteps behind him.

"It's okay. It's all gonna be okay." he hears, someone rubbing his back comfortingly. "Let it all out Baek." Chanyeol mumbles, comfortingly, glaring violently at two boys trying to walk in before hurrying back out. He retches and finishes throwing up coughing as he tries to stand up, only to fall back into a sitting position. He rummages through his bag for water and gargles to get the acrid flavour out of his mouth, spitting into the toilet before flushing it, getting up properly to wash his hands, ignoring Chanyeol's outstretched hand. He walks out, not turning around, before being pulled back into the toilets, his mouth covered by a large hand, Chanyeol shushing him as he finds himself unable to move. He struggles in the giant's grip, trying to get away but is unable to and gives in, slumping against the taller's chest, devoid of hope. _I'm gonna die._ he thinks, tears silently falling down his cheeks. "I'm gonna uncover your mouth now. If you scream, I will knock you out and kidnap you." he warns. "But you'll be home by nine pm anyway." he adds wryly. He slowly moves his hands and walks infront of the shaking boy. "Baekhyun?" He only nods, not trusting himself to speak. "You think we're evil, don't you? Some demonic things." He bends his knees slightly to look him in the eyes. "The thing is Baek, even we don't know." Baekhyun looks up at this.  
"What?"  
"We don't know why we're like this - we just are. And I'm not saying we're perfect because we're not. Neither are your kind though. Just give us a chance to explain who we are. Please."  
"Fine."  
"What?" Chanyeol asks, shocked. He hadn't expected him to listen.  
"Fine. I want to know one thing now though: why hide it? I'm meant to be your friend. You might have only been here for a week but your brothers have been here for two years and they never said anything." He washes his face to cover up any tear streaks.  
"We always have to lie." Chanyeol takes a shaky breath. "We're clearly not like you so some humans don't like us. That's kind of a running theme with your kind isn't it though: white people didn't black people or Asian people or Native Americans." he laughs and shakes his head. "And you people call us monsters. We don't kill each other because of how we look. We have to look out for each other because of your kind. Your hunters." he spits out furiously. "They say they're trying to save humans by stopping us from killing but we don't. We feed and take what we need, heal them, wipe their memory and leave. No one dies, not anymore, and they act like we do. What do we look like: savages?" he scoffs in disgust. "We have to lie. It's that or be killed. We're the Hidden People of this Earth, it's just who we are." he finishes simply, his lips in a tight smile. Baekhyun notices and moves closer to him. He uses fingers and turns the corners of him mouth down.  
"If you're unhappy or angry, don't force yourself to smile because of me. Be angry, before you really lose it." he jokes causing a genuine smile to spread across Chanyeol's face. "Aye! A real smile." Baekhyun cheers quietly so no teachers can hear. "So," he sighs heavily. "Class?"  
"Heck no. I don't care what the boys say, we screwed your day up so we should fix things." He gets up and takes Baekhyun's bag. "Let's go out somewhere. Call it an apology for making you cry and throw up."  
"Buy me ramen and fine."  
"Only if you get me bubble tea."  
"Why do I have to?"  
"You kicked me in the balls! That hurts!" he whines. "It still hurts! A lot!" he adds pouting.  
"Fine." Baekhyun laughs. "Ramen and bubble tea."

They walk to the door and open it, revealing Kim Heechul. "Hyung-" Chanyeol begins, trying to explain. "Get out of here and don't let Yesung see you." he grins. "You aren't too freaked out are you little human?" he asks, not unkindly.  
"Wait, are you-"  
"Come on Baek." Chanyeol pulls him by the arm. "We'll see you later and tell Yesung hyung that I'm not sorry for interrupting in history: his reactions are brilliant." he cackles, dragging a bewildered Baekhyun out of the school.


	12. Careful

"Where the heck have you been? We've been worried sick." Xiumin and DO bombard Baekhyun with questions as they walk home.  
"I'm sorry. I wasn't feeling well so I couldn't stay in school and Chanyeol came with me to calm me down."  
"Are you okay now though? Have you eaten?" Xiumin questions, his brows furrowed.  
"Yes and yes, I had ramen and bubble tea." he tells them, smiling.  
"I payed." Chanyeol pipes up, raising his hand.  
"Only for the ramen though."  
"You owed me the bubble tea." Chanyeol points out causing Baekhyun to tilt his head and mutter in agreement.  
"Why?" Kai asks him.  
"I kicked him in the nuts." Baekhyun says, dodging Chanyeol's hand that was trying to cover his mouth. Laughter erupts around the boys, one of them hiding their face in their hands before chasing the shorter. "Save me! I'm being attacked by a tree!" Chanyeol catches him and throws him over shoulder. "Stop it you lamppost! My stuff's gonna fall!"  
"Gimme your bag then." he replies, taking it off of him and throwing it to Sehun.  
"Well I would have if you hadn't taken it off of me now let me down!" Chanyeol puts him down gently, the boy still slightly stumbling.

"I'm going to the boys' house today." he tells Xiumin, biting his lip. "Can I?"  
"Sure." Xiumin nods, smiling. "Just don't come home too late and be careful."  
"I will. Thank you hyung!" he hugs the boy. "Tell eomma I'm going be late for me." DO just nods and waves at the boys who go their own way.

"Let's go home hyung."  
"Yeah, yeah." Xiumin turns away from their retreating backs. "I'm just worried."  
"Yeah, you and me both brother."


	13. Who We Are

The boys walk towards the house together, laughter and arguments masking underlying worries.

"Here we are." Chanyeol announces with a flourish of his hands. "Our dear leader's home."  
"Chanyeol-", said man begins.  
"Shut up?" he finishes for him.  
"Took the words right out of my mouth."

He unlocks the door and walks in, holding the door open for the others who begin to pour in and sit down wherever they can. After a few moments of bustling an awkward silence spreads through the room.

"So..." Suho pitches in. "You know what we are but you don't know how we work." he starts, turning to face Baekhyun who begins to twiddle his thumbs. "We'll start off with houses then I guess." he shrugs his shoulders, not really knowing what to do. "I'm the leader of this nest and I'm the first house. Everyone else lives one one of these houses; we're the only people on this street. Family and mates live together. So Kris and Tao live together and Sehun and Chanyeol live together: they're all brothers. Luhan lives with Sehun because they're mates and Kai stays with them because he's a loner."  
"Hyung!" the boy protests. "You could have said something about Lay hyung, no offence," he faces the Chinese boy who shakes his head smiling, telling him it didn't matter. "Why me?"  
"You're younger." They turn back to Baekhyun. "Did you get that?"  
"You're the leader and you live here. The rest of the guys live along the street. Family and mates live together." he recalls. "What about ages?"  
"What d'you mean?" Kris asks, tilting his head.  
"How do you guys say who's older and younger and stuff?"  
"We base our age around the day we either turned or stopped ageing which goes from about seventeen to twenty-five and how long we spend with humans. So Sehun would still call you 'hyung'."  
"Ah." Baekhyun makes a noise, understanding and nodding. "Are there any other positions? Like other than the leader?"  
"I'm Second in Command." Kris comments, raising his hand.  
"I'm the Healer." Lay says, raising his hand as well.  
"I'm known as the Den Mother." Chen pipes up, smirking. Baekhyun snorts at this but considers it.  
"Actually, kinda makes sense." he begrudgingly gives in.  
"There are other positions." Tao tells him. "Old nests would have things like Protectors, Envoys and Hounds. That was back when we'd have large territories and we'd be in control rather than your kind." he explains.

"You said before that you 'stopped ageing'." he turns back to Suho. "I thought vampires couldn't breed."  
"We might be dead but we're still supernatural. All supernatural creatures can reproduce - it's a survival thing." Suho tells him, rolling his eyes at the ignorance of humans.  
"Wait, all? Vampires aren't the only supernatural things?"  
"There are: vampires, obviously, werewolves who don't like us much, fae or faeries as they're called now and witches and warlocks. There's myths about humans that were part angel and part demon but they apparently all killed each other so you don't need to worry about them."  
"Okay, info overload." the young boy puts his head in his hands and silently counts back from ten. "Okay. So there are vampires like you guys, werewolves who don't like you guys, fae which are faeries and witches and warlocks who I'm guessing can do magic as well as angelic and demonic part humans that killed each other that might not have existed but could have." he says slowly, trying to process everything. "Nice. That was right but that's only the basics about supernatural creatures." Chen nods approvingly. _How the heck was that basic?_ Baekhyun groans and kneads his temples. "My brain wants to hit its self in the brain." he complains.

"Just don't trust any supernatural thingies, other than us of course, and you'll be fine." Sehun adds.  
"Was that a threat?"  
"No! Just a warning." he explains, receiving an unimpressed look from Baekhyun. "What I mean is that we like you but other things won't, not that you're not likable, but you're human and most Downworlders aren't fond of your kind." he explains, the words practically spilling out of his mouth as he tries not to offend him.  
"Whatever." Baekhyun only smiles and shakes his head.

"What are 'Downworlders'?"  
"It's just a collective term for supernatural creatures from humans, mostly hunters though. An old offensive if I'm being honest." Luhan grumbles, crossing his arms. "There used to be a different name that we made and used but it's been forgotten so we just say 'Downworlder' now as well."

"Is that it?" Baekhyun looks around at each of them. _What else will they tell me?  
_ "Other nests, packs, clans and courts that are near here and weaknesses." Kai says, grimacing slightly. "There are some nests near us but they won't want us telling you about them, they won't hurt you though. They're friends or allies if you wanna sound formal. There used to be a pack in this area but they disappeared a year ago, don't know why." he frowns. "We didn't know who was in the pack but we knew they were here. There's a clan here and they're okay. They don't like to get involved in vampire or werewolf business. Clans are witches; they used to be in covens but not all witches want to do magic all their lives so they use the human name, clan, instead of coven. There might be courts around here but the fae are secretive and don't trust us. If we have to see them, they'll send us and invitation. No one gets into Faerie without an invitation anyways." Seeing the confused look on Baekhyun's face, he decides to explain further. "Faerie's where they live and they're called Fae."  
"That's confusing."  
"It was humans that got it confused in the first place." Kai laughs at his confusion before wincing at the slap from Luhan.  
"Stop being mean. He's new to this."

"Weaknesses are, this is gonna be long list by the way,: fire and light because we catch fire like paper but we have magic rings so light doesn't affect us, religious items but only if we believe in them, wooden stakes in the heart kill us, silver burns, beheading kills us and most things to be honest, holly and rowan burn as well as other plants and wolfsbane harms us and werewolves." Baekhyun nods, mentally noting everything down.  
"Anything else interesting?"  
"Just... stuff. Get used to this stuff and then we'll explain the weird stuff." Lay hesitates.  
"And this isn't weird?" he asks, looking unimpressed. "Just tell me. I can deal with it, promise." he persists.  
"You know how we said all supernatural creatures reproduce?" Lay starts carefully.  
"Yeah?"  
"Well, we really meant it when we said all."  
"Yeah, not following."  
"All, as in girls and-"  
"Guys." Baekhyun finishes. "Girls and guys. How the heck does that work?" he asks.  
"Don't look at us!" Chen says, raising his hands. "We've never gotten pregnant!"

"Okay, I think that's enough for today. Baekhyun looks like his brain is melting."  
"It is." he whines.  
"Okay, I'm gonna take you home."  
"Kay kay." he mumbles, rubbing his eyes. _God, learning is tiring. I guess that's why I fall asleep in school._ He grins to himself. He grabs his things and reaches the door.

"You know you don't need to come with me."  
"Yeah," Chanyeol shrugs and pulls his jacket on and shuts the door behind them after waving goodbye to the boys. "I gotta go to the store so I might as well take you as well."  
"You guys eat?"  
"We don't need to but it tastes good so we do."  
"And your brothers used to steal my food, complaining they were hungry!" Chanyeol laughs at this, making Baekhyun do the same.  
"We don't get hungry for human food." he explains. "You got played Baekhyunnie." he teases, grinning.  
"Oh shush!" Baekhyun lightly punches his arm.  
"You still haven't said who you like better: me or Chen?"  
"Yeah bye! We've reached the Split."  
"You named this place?"  
"We come here almost everyday for over two years - it deserves a name." Baekhyun argues. "My parents are gonna be worried if I don't go home soon."  
"Fine." Chanyeol says. "Can't you come to the store with me? I don't know what the boys like anymore: Sehun likes pineapple pizza, who knows what else he eats now?"  
"Everything?"  
"True."

The boys laugh, bid each other farewell and part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the record I will not be including mpreg, I just don't get the whole born of magic and yet can't bear children thing so ta-da?


	14. Just Checking

Baekhyun wakes up, shaking, but not from from fear. _What the hell?_ His mind surges with the things he was told last week. "I have no idea what I dreamed but my mind hurts now." he complains to himself quietly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Can knowledge make you shaky?" he wonders. _Meh._ He quickly picks his clothes out and takes a shower before brushing his teeth, hearing Xiumin shouting. "Baek, we're gonna be late!" He spit the toothpaste out of his mouth. "Coming!" he yells back. He pulls his clothes on and runs down the stairs, going down half way before realising he forgot his bag. "Shit!" he mutters, going back up and grabbing his things. "Have a good day boys." Mrs Byun calls to them from the living room. "And Baekkie?"  
"Yes eomma?"  
"Stop swearing." He smiles sheepishly and nods, apologising. _Mums' hear everything._

\----------

"What were you guys doing last week?" DO asks Kai, the two talking quietly compared the rest of the screeching group.  
"Nothing much." Kai answers, scratching the back of his neck. _Well I suck at lying._ He notes. _Can't be worse than Sehun though.  
_ "Kai, are you lying? You only scratch your neck when you're lying." he pointedly observes, raising a brow at him.  
"Course not hyung." he smiles, moving his hand. "Sehun put itching powder in my clothes this morning." he explains, whining as he scratches his arm. DO bursts out in laughter, earning a pout from Kai, before he stifles his laughs with his hands.  
"Sorry." he giggles, his eyes curving into crescents. "Just don't come to close, okay?"  
"Why not?" Kai teases, chasing him.  
"Stop!" DO shouts, running behind Xiumin. "I'm being attacked!" he glares playfully.  
"I'll stop." he raises his hands.  
"Promise?" Kai nods his head in confirmation and DO moves from behind Xiumin, returning to Kai's side.  
"Xiumin hyung, Baekhyun and I have really sensitive skin." DO explains. "Xiumin hyung and I get rashes because of itching powder and Baek has slight irritations." Kai nods in understanding.  
"D'you think they'll let me miss Korean to go change out of these things?" he motions to his clothes, tugging the neckline.  
"If Miss Kang's feeling nice, maybe."  
"Seulgi noona loves me." Kai brags.  
"How long has she known you?"  
"Since I was nine."  
"She'll let you." DO nods, smiling lightly.

"DO hyung?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you and Xiumin hyung not like us?"  
"What? Of course we do. Why wouldn't we?"  
"You just never come over to our's. When we ask, you always make up excuses. You don't want our numbers. You avoid us in school unless Baekhyun hyung's with us." Kai mutters, his head hanging as he looks down.  
"We're just not really comfortable around people." DO answers, not really knowing what else to say. "We've known Baekhyun hyung since we were young so he's basically our brother. We've only known you guys for two years and because of family things last year..." he trails off, tears stinging his eyes as he forces them back.  
"It's okay. Sorry for pushing you."  
"No, you're right. Let's fix it."  
"What d'you mean?"  
"Let's exchange numbers." the shorter suggests, the taller nodding as he types his number into his phone. "'Kyungsoo hyung'?"  
"Call me by my real name." he suggests. "My friends always do - or they used do." he says the end under his breath, so Kai doesn't hear.  
"What?"  
"Nothing." He plasters a smile on his face.

"Hey!" Suho shouts. "You've passed the school!"  
"Whoops!" Kyungsoo says, turning and almost grabbing Kai's sleeve before remembering the itching power and grabbing his hand and dragging him to school. "Don't even think about it."  
"Hyung." Kai whines.  
"I had a feeling you were gonna try to ditch me here." Kyungsoo fakes sadness and lets go of his hand before walking up alone.  
"Fine!" Kai gives in and runs after him, making Kyungsoo smile.  
"Hyung?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Call me Jongin."

\----------

The group runs into the school and Chanyeol notices something.

"Hyung, where's Lay hyung?" he asks Suho.  
"He's late - probably just overslept." he replies, the younger shrugging before seeing something in the corner of his eye. A silhouetted figure following Baekhyun from the closure of the darkness, his hands reaching out to grab him before quickly drawing back as Baekhyun becomes surrounded by people, the figure turning and running away.

"Hyung, hyung!" he shakes the man's arm, his eyes not moving from that spot. "Did you see it?"  
"What, the random shadowy figure that's been following us for around five minutes? No, of course not(!)"  
"Wait, it was following us?"  
"Oh my god." Suho face palms and walks away from Chanyeol. "Yes, it was following us. When it didn't do anything for three minutes I guessed that it was a rookie hunter so if we kept messing about, it would guessed we were human and left us but obviously not."  
"It was going for Baek so it must have been waiting for him to be alone but as he got away from us, his classmates surrounded him."

"Hyung!" Sehun shouts, running back to him. "Heechul hyung said that if you guys don't come in now, he'll give you a detention."  
"Tell Heechul hyung, propter hoc stercore serio possit meiere. Suus 'aliquis quaerit nocere hominibus nostris." [he can piss off because this is serious shit. Someone's trying to hurt our human.] he say, smiling sweetly.  
"Really? What happened?"  
"Someone tried to kidnap him." Suho tells him, walking to class.  
"Chanyeol, I'm gonna tell him!" he calls over his shoulder as leaves them in the courtyard. He waves him off before facing Sehun again.  
"How can he not notice though?"  
"He's a bit of a dreamer."  
"Will Heechul hyung really give us detentions?"  
"Yes."  
"See you then." He races into the building, Sehun close at his heels.  
"Hey!"

\----------

"Sorry for being late." Lay apologises to Heechul, after coming to homeroom halfway through the lesson.  
"You know this is a late detention right?" Heechul tells him, Lay's face falling as he nods in understanding.  
"Yes hyung, sorry." he bows, walking towards his seat. Heechul sighs to himself. _This kid, I swear. Too polite for his own good.  
_ "This is your first time so I'll let you off with a warning though." he gives in.  
"Really?" Lay asks.  
"Yeah, yeah." he waves his off. "Just don't come this late again." he warns. _I swear if I keep letting this lot off the hook I'm gonna lose my situation. Who says that anymore- My job._ he thinks, correcting himself.

"Lay hyung." Baekhyun calls. "You have dirt and twigs in your hair." he points out, Lay fixing himself accordingly, nodding a 'thanks'.  
"I fell out of a tree." he explains sheepishly.  
"Why were you in a tree?" Sehun asks.  
"Mrs Kang's cat got stuck again. She was chasing squirrels."  
"Who was? Mrs Kang or the cat?" Luhan snickers, earning a weary look from Suho. "Don't look at me like that, she's a bat; she threw a softball at me. Because I definitely look like the six year old girl with pigtails that 'destroyed her lovely flowers'." he rants sarcastically.  
"Relax Luhan gege, next time her cat climbs a tree and decides not to leave, I'll leave it there." Lay offers. "I swear, how is that that is worst thing you could actually do?" Luhan smiles. "I'm glad at least one of us is sane."  
"He's nicer than you, that's obvious." Heechul calls, making Luhan scowl lightly.  
"Stop exposing me hyung." he whines.

\----------

It was break and the boys were all having their separate conversations.

"Baek?"  
"Yeah?" the boy mumbles around a mouthful of kimchi.  
"Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, why would I be?" he asks, swallowing.  
"No reason." he lies, the words slipping off his tongue easily. "Just making sure you aren't too freaked out because of what we told you."  
"I can handle it." Baekhyun replies, rolling his eyes at the other.  
"No doubt." Chanyeol smiles, agreeing. "Just checking though."


	15. Protector

"God, today dragged." Chen whines flopping on Suho's sofa.  
"Feet down." Suho tells him, pushing his feet off.

The nest make themselves comfortable before falling into silence.

"Are we gonna talk about what happened today?" Suho asks, folding his arms and raising a brow. "Other than Chanyeol kind of swearing at a teacher." he cuts Kai off.  
"I didn't swear at him - he knows that as well." the said boy argures.  
"Off topic." Sehun mutters, fraying the end of his sleeve as he leans closer to Luhan and closes his eyes. "If we're not gonna do anything today, can we go home?"  
"Sehun.", Luhan berates.  
"Can we go home please?" he corrects himself.  
"Not what I meant." Luhan shakes his head. "He's right though." he turns to the leader. "We're talking about what's important now. Forget other stuff." he tells the group sternly.  
"Okay then: metting starts now." Suho comments dryly, smiling. "To put things simply, someone tried to kidnap Baekhyun this morning before school." Shocked looks and gasps erupt around the room.  
"Do we know why yet?" Chen asks, his eyebrows furrowed.  
"No, not yet." Suho frowns.  
"It was weird though." Sehun comments, gaining looks from the others. "Hear me out and everything, why kidnap him at school, why not from home where it's less crowded?"  
"Either whoever it was hasn't kidnapped anyone before or they're just stupid. If I was gonna kidnap someone it would from where ever they live. At school there'd be too many people and probably cameras." Kris agrees, making Suho look at him sceptically.  
"It's creepy that you think about kidnapping people but good point."

The boys ponder over who would try to kidnap their friend. _Why him? Who would?_

"Light bulb moment." Chanyeol says all of a sudden, breaking the silence and capturing the attention of his brothers. "Why not give him a Protector?" Sehun frowned.  
"Didn't we give Protectors to humans we would feed off of?" he questions, biting his lip feeling guilty for introducing him with the supernatural world.  
"Back then we would protect our food; now we'll protect our friend." Kai nods solemnly.  
"Who volunteers?" Suho asks the boys.  
"I will." two voices chorus at the same time. Kai and Lay look at each other before putting down their raised hands. "Two volunteers: okay." Suho comments. "I'm sorry Lay but I believe Kai will be best suited for this - he's a more experienced tracker and he usually stays with Baekhyun anyway so he won't be suspicious."  
"Why would it be suspicious?" Lay asks, his eyebrows furrowing, his face confused. "You don't usually stay with him at breaks, usually just with Luhan hyung, so he'd find the attention odd and would know something's up." Suho explains, spreading his hands. "We can't have him finding out: if he does and the kidnapper finds out that he does, they might resort to violence." Lay nods, understanding.  
"It's our job to keep him safe. I get it." Lay smiles.


	16. Adoption

Kai's new job began that night.

"This is fantastic - I don't know where he lives." he mutters sarcastically to himself when he arrives at the Split. "Wha- oof!" He lets out a small noise in surprise as he gets pulled into the alley.  
"Shush." Chanyeol whispers. "Follow the boys home; they're coming back from the cinemas." he tells the boy. Kai nods seriously in response.  
"Okay. If they see you and ask how you know where they live, remember, I was never here." Chanyeol whispers before running away, his footsteps silent. Kai chuckles, the noise muffled by his hand when he notices the boys coming closer.

"-and then we went for food." Baekhyun's voice echoes.  
"And that was all that happened?" Xiumin raises an eyebrow, clearly sceptical.  
"Mmhm." Baekhyun nods, confirming this but lying. DO and Xiumin share a look. "Honest!" He raises his hands into the air. "Now come on! It's so damned cold." He complains, rubbing his arms and jogging to the house. They all run to the door, Xiumin taking out the key and opening the door, the boys piling in and shutting the door behind them quickly.

Kai watches from afar and waits. He listens intently:

"Can we get pizza?"  
"Are you still hungry?"  
"Nah - just bored."  
"What-?"  
"Baekhyun hyung and Kyungsoo hyung." He mutters, hearing creaking from inside the house. "Stairs." He makes his leave and speeds over to their tree, gripping the branches and pulling himself up. Easy. His smirk is quickly wiped off of his face as the window opens and he flattens himself against the wall, praying that the window doesn't hit him in the face.

"What is it?" Xiumin hyung.  
"Nothing - I thought I heard something." DO replies. "Guess it was just the wind and the old tree." he mutters, swinging the window shut and locking it. Kai lets out a breath of relief before cursing lightly and listening in again.

"I am getting weird amounts of nostalgia - it's actually disgusting." The boys chuckle at the eldest. "I remember when your parents adopted us." DO grins, slightly pained.  
"We were on our own and you guys helped us a lot." Baekhyun tuts and hugs them both tight.  
"Don't you dare push me away- anyhow, you guys are my brothers. It's my job to stay by you guys." He breaks off and laughs. "When we saw you two having a go at the council, we were literally just going to annoy them about voting."  
"I had all right to have a go!" Xiumin protests, sitting on his knees. "I could have looked after us but no: I had to be freaking 19 then!" he huffs, grabbing a pillow and laying on his back. "It was only a one year difference for God's sake."  
"DO's asleep." Baekhyun whispers, motioning for them to do so as well.

Kai's eyes widen in surprise. _They're brothers. Damn._ He lets out a breath. _Why didn't they tell us?_ He wonders before wishing himself and the others a mental goodnight and settling to sleep, only to wake at 05:00 and leave before he could get caught.

**Author's Note:**

> maybe check out my tumblr? 👉🏽👈🏽  
> writing blog @swearwolf-writes  
> main blog @bangchanseonyeondan


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